Post production Feedback

Front Cover
Strengths
The audience like how it is presented and how it consists of the conventions of a real magazine, including a bar code, website and " interesting" story lines and the front cover received positive feedback as the masthead was said to have been creative and a nice color was chosen for it too as well as the main cover-line standing out.
Weaknesses
One weakness was the " one and only" underneath the masthead being too small making it hard to read and the fonts used for the front cover being different from one another not keeping consistency. Some people also felt that the image of the subject used for the front cover was too stretched out therefore making the magazine look unprofessional. 


Contents Page
Strengths
" For the contents page I like how the colors match the original color scheme of purple". The color scheme was also kept the same for the other two pages keeping consistency and presenting the magazine as neat and professional. They also liked the way the story lines were "nicely" presented and clear to read.
Weaknesses
" The contents page image was too stretched out making the magazine look amateur"  and some said how there was no negative feedback to give. 


Double Spread Page
Strengths
" A strength of the double spread page is that the image is very clear and captivates the reader"  and  " I like how the layout and the image of the main subject takes up a whole page".
Weaknesses
" I don't like how the two small pictures don't sit right " and " a weakness of the double spread page is that the shade purple used on the image makes it difficult to to read". 

 Q7. Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

 

Question 7: After doing the preliminary task, skills that had not been picked up before were learnt and this was effective for the creation of my main task which was to create a music magazine. In comparing the preliminary task to the main task, I can see that one of the skills learnt was how to present the conventions of a magazine with good quality. For the preliminary task conventions of a magazine were not presented efficiently.

Using Photoshop for the preliminary task first before using it for the main task helped to progress my skills and this resulted to improving my music magazine as I was more familiar with it unlike with the preliminary task where I wasn’t able to use Photoshop to the best of my ability.

A front cover and a contents page was what the preliminary task consisted of and my music magazine had a front cover, a contents page and a double spread page which enabled me to gain more skills whilst using Photoshop as a double spread page wasn’t included in my preliminary task and I learnt how to develop part of the magazine using a A3 canvas.

As the main task had a specific target audience I learnt how to keep focus on the specific targeted group and represent them through the magazine in ways that would appeal to them and keep them engaged. This wasn’t done as effectively for my preliminary task as the audience was broader. Other than Photoshop that was used for both tasks that I became more skilled in after the preliminary task another piece of technology I became more familiar with was the Canon E05 400D which was used to take good images that couldn’t be taken in my preliminary task as during this task I wasn’t able to use the camera properly.

 Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6:   From the process of creating my media product; music magazine, I learnt many technological techniques that helped me to construct my product. To start off my magazine, I had to take pictures of my subject to use on the front cover, contents page and double spread page. I used a Canon E0S 400D Digital to take all the images that would later be used. I also used the Canon for the preliminary task; college magazine. During the preliminary task I struggled to understand how the camera was used as it was my first time using it but when I used it for the main task I learnt things I hadn’t known before to get the desired images needed.

One of the things learnt was how to auto focus, which is to get the red dots on the eyes of the subject to get the shots taken in focus. This was something I didn’t know had to be done when doing my preliminary task and helped effectively when taking the images for the main task.

The location of where the images were taken was in front of a beige colored wall next to a house.  I didn’t change location to keep it consistent and to follow what other real magazines do, which is taking images in the same location.

By using the flash on the camera it helped to create good- quality images as it added brightness even though where the shoot was being taken was quite dark as a result of it being night time.

One of the difficulties I had was that I did not have much experience in taking pictures for a college piece of work so I struggled quite a bit to get a shot of a professional looking image.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 was technology I had also never used before and learnt a lot from it but my Photoshop skills were inadequate to creating my magazine as it was my first time using the program. Photoshop was constructive in helping to create the images taken to get the effect wanted. I adjusted the brightness and contrast to make the images clearer to see.

I learnt how to change images that were not able to upload unto my blog via Blogger through Photoshop. This was done by saving the image as a JPEG file. I also learnt how to make the font used for the texts on the pages of the magazine stand out more by using the layer style options and for most of the fonts, used several of the blending options such as drop shadow, contour, inner shadow, stroke and so on…

 Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Questions 5:  

The audience research that was done as part of the planning/ research of my magazine was beneficial as it helped to the creation of my music magazine by allowing me to understand what would attract my targeted audience.   One of the ways I engaged with the targeted audience is through the front cover and this is significant to the magazine as it is the first thing a potential buyer would see before reading it. The model chosen for the front cover also helps to engage with the audience as she is good looking and is of the same age range which allows the audience to feel as if they can relate to the magazine as well as relate to her.The style/ look of the model also helps to attract the audience as her look is stereotypical to females that are involved in the R&B/Hip-hop/Pop music scene and represents this.  

 I also included other well known artists as part of the cover lines as it would be a magnet for the audience and lure them in to reading on and feel more engaged especially if they are fans of  one or more of the artists shown. 

Sans serif was used for most of the fonts used in the magazine and this was done to keep the magazine consistent and professional and to give the magazine a modernized and stylish look and this relates to the genre of music the magazine is based on and helps with the attraction of the audience.   I downloaded all the fonts off the website, ‘Dafont.com’ and the font I used for the masthead was called ‘Dutch & Harley’ which creates a distinguished look, the boldness also emphasizes the word and relates to one of the genres of the magazine ‘Rap’. 

        The colour scheme of the magazine consisted of the colours black, pink, purple and a hint of grey and I made sure the colours were bold and strident so it is eye catching and catches the audience’s attention. I tried to make the colours used appeal to both genders but believe the colors are a lot more feminine and this is supported by the model, her clothing and posture.

I used formal language so it can be read by all genders and ages and can be easily understood as the magazine is targeted at a diverse audience.

The contents page is neat and organised and makes the magazine easily accessible for the reader to read through it and read what they desire to.

                                                                       

 Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 4: Harmony is targeted at young males and females aged 16 -25 worldwide, as the genre(s) of music the magazine is based on dominates all over the world mainly with a younger audience. The type of audience I particularly wanted to target my magazine at are people who take pleasure in reading music magazines to find out the latest releases and  gossip within the celebrity world of singers/rappers.
R&B/Hip-hop is often associated with young BLACK people of both genders but Harmony is targeted at all ethnicities/ race. This has been done so the magazine can be diverse and relate to everyone who is interested in these genres.
My target audience is those that listen to R&B/Hip-hop and listen to artists from Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Beyonce, Rihanna, Tinie Tempah and so on...

My targeted audience are those that enjoy themselves by attending parties, going out clubbing and take pleasure in reading magazines especially music based magazines. My target audience have an eclectic style, meaning they combine things from different places to create their own unique fashion look.

Harmony is also targeted at those that are interested in fashion and the latest trends as listeners of R&B/ Hip-hop are usually known to be fashionable in their own particular way as well as the artists of the genres. Most of them would be in education which presents them as being ambitious and career minded and could see artists similar as role models to them. Jay Z, American rapper could be seen as a role model to those that are my target audience, as he is one of the most successful Hip Hop artists and entrepreneurs as well as being successful financially in America.

 Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 3: I believe 4mm Games would be the right publishers to publish and distribute my music magazine as they are not known to publish magazines although they are founded by entrepreneurs and visionaries of games, media, music and advertising. This will enable 4mm Games to reach out to a new and wider market as the main focus of my magazine is music and fashion whereas 4mm Games is mainly focused on video games. This will make the company diverse and not only just reach to males but also females.

4mm Games will also benefit well through publishing and distributing my magazine as they reaching out to a mass audience and as this is probably the first ever music magazine they would be getting involved with,  this will help them get better recognition and gain more popularity.  

Most likely my magazine will be distributed in music stores around the UK including HMV as the magazine is targeted at an worldwide audience and seeing as HMV is a well known music store, where people who are passionate about music can go to purchase singles, albums and so on as well as a store you can also purchase video games so it will be easily accessible for my audience and the companies audience.

 

 Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question 2:

My music magazine is targeted at an audience of both genders; male and female but mainly females, who are interested in the genres of music of R&B, Pop & Hip-hop. The genre and the type of audience my magazine is targeted at is presented through the layout and design of the pages of the magazine. The front page illustrates the genre and target audience as it has a list of artists that are singers/ rappers of music that are R&B, Hip-hop or Pop based and the colour scheme of the magazine also helps to illustrate the type of audience the magazine is mainly targeted at; females. Another way this has been done is through the model on the front cover and her costume which consists of a fur jacket and accessories; earrings, watch and rings. The colour of her hair, makeup and clothing also complements the colour scheme of the magazine  The look she has puts forward the idea of femininity and class and not only just what she is wearing but, her pose which is sassy. The look the model has is the look of the majority of females in the R&B/Hip-hop/ Pop music scene, fashionable but sexy. Beyonce, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Monica etc are all examples of females in the music industry that have this type of look and style.